In fact, it's linked to a variety of health problems such as dyslipidemia and diabetes,1 heart disease,2 dementia,3 and even cancer.4

But rather than just rehash this information, we’re going to focus on how to kick your sugar habit for good today.

Why? Because if you want to be healthy, you need to kick sugar out of your diet.

Step One: Acknowledge “The Addiction”

If you think you have a “sugar addiction,” you’re probably onto something. There’s evidence showing that this can be a real problem for certain people.

In lab studies, rats that binge on sugar show two key elements of addiction: craving and relapse. And when they’re denied sugar, they actually display withdrawal symptoms like anxiety.5

Why? Because sugar produces profound changes in their brains, similar to what happens when they’re given drugs like cocaine and morphine.5 And it’s not much different for humans either.

Research shows that people who abuse drugs and alcohol are more likely to have a “sweet tooth.” In fact, eating sugar may cause the release of endorphins and dopamine,6 which may also happen during drug abuse.

Overall, the biological pathways of “sugar addiction” involve similar receptors and brain regions as for drug addiction. So it’s no wonder that slice of cake makes you feel good and keeps you coming back for more.

Step 2: Get Rid of Obvious and Hidden Sources of Sugar

If you’re going to remove sugar from your diet, you need to do it wholeheartedly. Take a good look at all of your food labels at home and look for hidden sources of sugar. Even your so called “health foods” may contain plenty of it.

Here is a list of some common "hidden sugar" offenders to avoid:

Whole grain bread

Whole grain cereals

Salad dressings

Ketchup

Soups

Condiments

Whole wheat breads

Mixed drinks

Marinades

Store bought sauces (Asian, tomato, BBQ, etc.)

Plain yogurt

Trail mix

Dried fruits

Granola bars

Protein bars

Protein drinks

Frozen dinners

Health drinks

Bottled teas

Smoothies

And don’t forget the “white offenders” too (white bread, white pasta, potatoes, white rice, etc.). They may not have added sugars, but they’re just as addictive. Avoid these as well!

Step 3: Know sugar by its different names

In a semi-clever attempt to disguise sugar, food manufacturers use fancy names on their food labels to mask it. Surprised?

For this reason, you should be familiar with (and avoid) these as well:

Sucrose

Maltose

Galactose

Dextrose

Lactose

Barley malt

Sorghum syrup

Carob syrup

Refiner’s syrup

Corn syrup solids

Brown rice syrup

Maltodextrin

By the way, if you want to make it easier for yourself, avoid all prepackaged foods and simply don’t eat out at restaurants. This way you’ll be able to fully control what goes into your food and ultimately your body.

Step 4: Get Nutritional Support

Kicking the sugar habit is tough. When starting out, you may very well feel moody, tired, and just plain miserable.

This is because you’re lacking the neurotransmitter boosts you’re used to getting from sugary foods. The solution is to balance your brain chemistry to help even out your moods and cravings.

Saffron extracts and L-tryptophan, for example, help to balance neurotransmitters. Saffron appears to boost, and L-tryptophan supports the production of serotonin,7, 8 a feel-good chemical that increases when you eat sugary foods.

And lastly, you don’t have to do this cold turkey. Cut back on your guilty pleasures, slowly. For example, rather than have one can of soda a day, drink half. And with time, you’ll feel repulsed by the sweetness of soda.

It may sound odd now, but give it a shot — you may just be surprised by how your body responds!

The Bottom Line

If you want to be healthy, you must kick sugar out of your diet as best as you can. And to do that you need to seriously familiarize yourself with the foods you eat.

Have you kicked sugar out of your diet entirely? If so, has your overall health improved? Please share in the comments!

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I appreciate the try regarding kicking the sugar habit. However, there is simply nothing simple about it. You simply have to be willing to do it. I think for me, what would really help is to have a personal account of someone quitting sugar, and the bodily effects she/he goes through. So that I know what to expect. Since I have bad anxiety as well.

Here's the one problem with your otherwise helpful plan but it's a big one.

When most try to kick sugar they end up starving and it doesn't last.

2/3 of caloric intake for the typical diet in the U.S. is mostly grains. If you include other carb-based foods you're probably up to more than 3/4 of energy intake as carbs. So if you restrict or remove carb/sugar energy sources, the hunger pangs become more severe and the addiction more intensified.

If you're going to kick the sugar habit, you have to substitute all calories you subtract with calories from proteins and healthy fats - from fish, pastured animal products like chicken, eggs, turkey and also wild caught seafood. Nuts, olive oil, cooking in beef tallow from grass-fed cows etc.

What we unlearn about sugars is paralleled by a mountain of information we need to learn about diets based on healthy-fats.

You can't just drain fuel from a body and expect the person to sustain health. Healthy fatty acids are the solar energy of the human diet. Cheaper, safer, better for sustainability of human health.

Kicking sugar is no big deal...just decide and do it...eat apples, carrots, grapes, cantaloupe, watermelon, clementines, pop corn...make raw brownie bits with nuts and flax, carob, cocoa and high grade agave, almond and cashew buyer and coconut oil...what you can expect is much more energy and not being a slave to the ups and downs and cravings sugar and empty carbs cause...unless you are diabetic most people can tolerate some carbs...but only after getting the gut healed...sugar is a terrible substance that wrecks havoc in so many ways in the body and mind....try stevia also for natural sweetener...and for your anxiety try amino acids taursine and tyrosine..500 mgs. 1 or 2 times a day...will help a lot....

The only way I can see to eliminate sugar from your diet would be to cook your own foods, and make everything from scratch yourself. Almost everything sold in the stores....in a can or a box...frozen or refrigerated....has sugar hidden in it somewhere. Almost everything in store can be made from scratch at home...like ketchup, salsa, etc....all can be home made without the sugar. Many diabetic foods have sugar substitutes, which also are no good for you. All this can be done, providing you are willing to spend all your free time devoted to making everything yourself. Even better, grow your own fruits and/or vegetables to insure no pesticides, and eliminate sugar & salt when you cook.

Hi. I'm Helen who wrote the letter to FAB Research! I love your article, thanks so much! I admit that it isn't easy finding products to replace those with sugar in, but it's not impossible. And the more people who want these products, the more chance that the industry will change.

I have personally given up sugar and felt that it was indeed an "addiction". I went through withdrawal symptoms for a few weeks, most notably in the first few days. I found that it was so important to increase my consumption of healthy fats during the process. I also used Saffron extract to curb cravings. Without the added extra help I think that it would have been insurmountably challenging. I've seen people attempt to give up sugar before and then follow a lowfat diet. They end up going nuts and going right back to where they started. I also think it may be a good idea during the sugar withdrawal phase that people reduce the intensity of cardiovascular exercise and weight training as this may only intensify hunger cravings, unless of course they are one of the lucky ones who seem to find exercise as anorectic. Also having a support system to rely on to discuss challenges during the rehabilitation phase would prove beneficial.